Barcelona

Barcelona view from Mount Tibidabo

We recently returned from a four day excursion to Barcelona. Barcelona is a remarkable city on the Mediterranean Sea located in Catalonia, and in the northeast corner of Spain. Catalonia is by culture, history, and politics, distinct from Spain. During the dictatorship of Francisco Franco ending with his death in 1975, Catalonian culture and language (noticeably different from Spanish) were mostly suppressed. In 1978, the Catalonians voted for adoption of a democratic Spanish constitution, which contained limited provisions for Catalonian cultural and political autonomy. During our visit, we noted numerous publications and banners promoting the complete independence of Catalonia from Spain, much as the separatists in Scotland sought independence from England.You can read more on the comparison here and here.  

Barcelona is the capital city of Catalonia and is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid. Until 1992, Barcelona was an industrial city and major Mediterranean seaport. With careful planning and execution, the 1992 Olympic summer games proved pivotal for the city as it transitioned into a major center for both business and tourism. This process although set back by the recession has continued with remarkable urban development, making the city a great place to live, work, and visit.

One of the joys of our trip was the opportunity to reunite with Javier, our Rotary exchange student from 20 years ago. Javier lived with our family in Port Angeles WA. Javier's parents visited our home during his exchange year. Since then, Javier has become an architect, living and working in Barcelona. After a wonderful day touring the city with Javier, we joined him and his parents for authentic Catalan cuisine.

dining with Javier and his parents

You do not have to like seafood in Barcelona, but it helps

The evening of our arrival, we explored the old-town part of the city, some of which dates back to over 1,000 years when the city was a Roman outpost.

Stay tuned. There is more to come, particularly on the architecture of Antoni Gaudi, and the Barcelona aquarium. . .

Jardin des Plantes revisited

Last Fall, we visited the Jardin (garden) des Plantes (You can find the blog entry back in November.) Now that it is Spring, we went back.

We visited a display of greenhouse Orchids

There were cacti

and we made new friends       

A good time was had by all!

April fooled

Congratulations to our kids for their masterful sabotage of our blog. Rather than delete their fine work, I have decided to keep it, at least for now. Those who know us know that we are political animals. However, I have done my best to keep politics out of our blog posts. So, I am kind of glad the kids did it for us in their special backhanded way. Perhaps when we return to the states, this blog will take on a slightly different perspective.

But for now,we return to our

regularly scheduled broadcast.